PHOENIX — As the Arizona Supreme Court weighs whether or not to uphold an abortion ban from 1864, state Sen. Eva Burch (D-District 9) shared to her colleagues that she plans to get an abortion.
"I don't think people should have to justify their abortions, but I'm choosing to talk about why I made this decision," Burch said during a senate hearing on Monday. "I want us to be able to have meaningful conversations about the reality of how the work we do in this body impacts people in the real world."
Burch stressed that doctors and patients should be making decisions about their healthcare needs, not legislators who "don't have to suffer through the consequences themselves."
Burch said that she found out a few weeks ago that “against all odds,” she was pregnant. The mother of two living children from west Mesa who is running for reelection said she has had “a rough journey” with fertility. She experienced her first miscarriage 13 years ago, was pregnant many times and terminated a nonviable pregnancy as she campaigned for her senate seat two years ago, she said.
Now, Burch said that her current pregnancy is not progressing and not viable and she has made an appointment to terminate.
Burch said the state’s laws have “interfered” with her decision. Arizona law required an “invasive” transvaginal ultrasound that her doctor didn’t order and she was then read “factually false” information required by the law about alternatives, she said.
Burch is a first time senator from Mesa, elected to her position in 2022. Burch studied nursing at Pima Medical Institute and started an emergency nursing career in 2012. She is seeking reelection.
Arizona is currently under a 15-week gestational ban due to a law signed into effect by former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022. The state judiciary is also weighing a territorial-era law from 1864 that bans abortion entirely.
The latest statistics from the Arizona State Health Department in 2021 show 94% of abortions in Arizona happen in the first 15 weeks. That data also shows that nearly half of abortions were non-surgical, meaning women in Arizona use some combination of three pills to end their pregnancy.
>>Editor's notes: Some quotes in this story were provided by the Associated Press.
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